


Mother, Father, and the Boy

by inquisitor_tohru



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Character Study, Dysfunctional Family, Father Cannot Do Feelings, Gen, The Institute (Fallout), canonical character death mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:15:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24267289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inquisitor_tohru/pseuds/inquisitor_tohru
Summary: "How might I address you?" Shaun's speech was still far too stilted, even in comparison to Father's own speech at that age.
Relationships: Father | Shaun & Conrad Kellogg, Father | Shaun & Female Sole Survivor, Father | Shaun & Synth Shaun
Kudos: 23
Collections: Villain of My Own Story Exchange 2020





	Mother, Father, and the Boy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [flowerdragon13](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowerdragon13/gifts).



Father looked into the boy's eyes in curiosity. Shaun wasn't a perfect replica, by virtue of  _ being  _ perfect. Newly engineered synths always were - they lacked many of the quirks and blemishes of human beings. Even the brightest minds amongst the Institute's scientists couldn't, for instance, program a synth (not even an  _ organic  _ synth) to replicate precise speech patterns and body language without having met their original flesh and blood counterparts. And since many of the scientists were younger than Father, they hadn't been able to remember  _ Shaun _ .

"How might I address you?" Shaun's speech was still far too stilted, even in comparison to Father's own speech at that age. His education had been unique and so, for as long as he could remember, he'd spent the majority of his time around adults. Second-generation synths, scientists, engineers, and-

"Cute. Got  _ your  _ father's eyes, Father." Kellogg, in his Commonwealth-tainted leathers, leaned against the pristine desk. As usual, he was too busy in his smug self-satisfaction to catch the brief flicker of emotion in Father's eyes. He recovered quickly, as he always had.

" _ Before _ you killed him and not after, I hope." Father made his way around the desk, crouched in front of Shaun, and smiled warmly at him. As if Kellogg was no more an annoyance than a moth flapping around his reading light. "You can call me Father."

"Father." It rolled off the boy's tongue like honey and melted butter. Father wondered if he'd ever sounded so sweet, but he couldn't remember, and wasn't about to ask Kellogg. Shaun could do so, if he was so inclined. He felt a little sorry for the boy, being compelled to spend so much time with the man (if he could really be called a man anymore) but, unfortunately, he was one of the few members of the Institute old enough to recall the original Shaun, and his enhanced memories ensured that he alone would be the one able to correct the boy's posture, habits, and so on and so forth.

Perhaps the sole survivor of Vault 111 wouldn't recognise the behavioural deviations in a boy she never raised, shaped by an organisation she'd never before encountered, but Shaun was not about to leave anything to chance. He wouldn't win her over to their cause with sloppiness, and word was that Kellogg's murder of her spouse had sent her on a vengeful rampage across the Commonwealth. Father had never known  _ his _ father but he must have been quite a man to stir such a reaction in a woman who had, by all accounts, spent her pre-war existence as a law-abiding, by-the-books family solicitor. So far she'd proved cunning and resourceful, whether against raiders, rogue second-gen synths, or the numerous creatures of the Commonwealth. These days the reports from agents on the surface were actually interesting, and Father even found himself looking forward to them. 

It was only a matter of time before she would hunt Kellogg down, finding the clues Father had so carefully scattered, and he was more than willing to give his mother what she wanted. And Father would serve up Kellogg's monstrous head on a platter if it ensured the Institute's future. 


End file.
